The link between common skin cancer and oral cancer, health experts explain
HOUSTON - Squamous cell carcinoma is known as common skin cancer, but did you know it can also happen in your mouth?
SEE ALSO: Woman shares skin cancer warning signs after undergoing extensive plastic surgery
Squamous cells are not only on the skin, but also on the mucous membranes, or moist tissue that lines body cavities, like airways and intestines. The American Cancer Society reports 54,000 people are diagnosed with oral cancer every year in the U.S.
Linda and Larry Pellerito are teaming up with her doctor from UTHealth to spread the message about the warning signs after she got the shocking diagnosis and underwent treatment last Fall.
"It was causing discomfort on the side of my tongue. I didn't think too much of it" explains Linda. "I thought I might have bitten the side of my tongue, or maybe it was the salt on a chip. It happened occasionally but pretty soon, it started happening more often and then it was consistently happening. I took a look at my tongue and saw the white spot."
RELATED: Easy test for oral cancer
Linda says she wasn't sure what to do, but scheduled an appointment at her dentist's office to question it. Her dentist suggested an oral cancer screening and that's what led to her diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma on her tongue.
Dr. James Melville is her oral and maxillofacial surgeon from UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry. He says she didn't have the typical lifestyle or risk factors, like smoking and drinking alcohol, or genetics.
"The main things that you would look for is a white spot that continues to get bigger, an ulceration like a canker sore that doesn't go away," he explains. "A stinging sensation, or red, or anything that looks red or angry and that's not going away within a reasonable timeframe within two weeks or so."
Linda wants you to know that early detection is the key to saving the tongue and jaw, preserving feelings in the mouth and taste, plus preventing it from spreading to other body parts.
"I'm proud of Linda!" exclaims her husband, Larry. "She's a very private person, and almost from the very beginning, from day one, she was shouting this from the mountain tops, because she felt like, and it's true, people need to know, and make sure their dentist is looking for these things."
Linda had to undergo about a two-and-a-half hour surgery, but many patients require twelve hours of surgery for more advanced diseases in the mouth. She's relieved she caught it early enough to avoid chemotherapy and radiation.
MORE STORIES RELATED TO CANCER
However, the recovery time was still challenging.
"In this case, we actually skin grafted that tongue region, so really like a burn victim, we took a portion of skin from her thigh, placed it onto her tongue region," explains Dr. Melville. "She had an uncomfortable bolster, which is like this bandaging agent in her mouth for about two weeks. That just kind of kept her very uncomfortable."
DOWNLOAD THE FOX 26 HOUSTON APP
Linda's tongue was suspended outside of her mouth, so she relied on a liquid diet for a few weeks.
"I couldn't talk, so every time I needed to tell Larry something, I'd write notes, and that's because of the bolster to help with the healing process, so when that came out two weeks later, things started to improve, and it has been a steady acceleration of improvement," exclaims Linda. "You just don't realize how much you use your tongue, until you can't use it! I've had to adapt a little bit, but it gets better every day."
MORE STORIES BY MELISSA WILSON
"She's done a great job," says her loving husband.
Linda's medical team has given her the gift of a great prognosis and her only physical therapy is the natural process of speaking and eating.
For additional information on oral cancer, click here.